Repent and Follow Him

Beads of Joy 09-25-11

Repent and Follow Him
©2011 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everybody,

Some people might not realize, but today’s gospel is a parable; and that is truly exciting, I have shared many times how joyful it is to meditate and reflect upon and learn about the parables Jesus has taught us. Today’s parable is a rather simple short story about two brothers, but in the simplicity of it, we can see how even though both may have disobeyed their father, it was the one who repented that pleased his father. Today we read in Matthew 21:28-32 (The Parable of the Two Sons and The Vineyard). With our faith, because we have “free-will” we must remember that all our actions do have consequences. Yes we can do whatever we so wish to do, but that doesn’t make it right and it certainly doesn’t make it right with God. Very foolish, selfish choices made today, can affect and even take away a future and an eternity with Jesus in Heaven. God knows our heart, its intentions, its secrets, its motives, its ulterior motives. Nothing is hidden from God. Today’s gospel focuses on how a repentant heart draws us closer to the Father. The mindset in which we live today, will inevitably be the mindset in which will live tomorrow. In other words, if the pleasures and riches and power and prideful selfish choices make us happy today and so we pursue them; those choices will be our undoing, and eternity with Jesus very possibly may never happen for us.

How well do we respect God’s wishes? Like these two brothers, do we come straight out and say no to God, or do we say yes and then do nothing. It’s rather interesting and very insightful, how in this parable both sons were sinful against the father in different ways; one was boldly guilty with rebellion to his father’s wishes, while the other was a cowardly liar, with no intention to ever obey. There are two things I reflect upon in this story; first, if in any way we reject God’s wishes we must immediately humbly repent for our sins; and second, to the best of our ability avoid both of these situations and remain loyal and obedient to God, never ever allowing our own selfish choices to ever over ride whatever God commands of us. Yes the second one very difficult, we are all sinners, and remain to be so in this life. Many of us don’t go to the trouble of purposely, rebelliously sinning. With that said, let us do all we can to be attentively obedient to Almighty God, our Father who loves us. God has given us so many gifts, gifts we don’t deserve; He gives us inner peace, He gives us overflowing endless Joy, happiness that fills our hearts with a love for others that we can’t even explain. And at the end of this life’s journey, God gives us the reward of eternal life with Him. We really need to live our lives for that day, if we live for the moment, the moment that pleases us, the moment that builds our own pride; then indeed we will miss out on the eternal joys that await us in Heaven with God.

Repenting isn’t all that difficult, being humble is a wonderful first step to help us confess whatever wrong-doing we have done. God knows our sins, we don’t go to confess so we can tell Him those sins; rather we go, so we show Him that we admit to our sins, and that we know straight out that they are indeed sins against Him. Here is some simple wisdom, I will paraphrase Father Larry Richards, he once said, “The sins that we ask forgiveness for will be forgiven, Jesus paid that price; but the sins we don’t ask forgiveness for we will pay the price.” We are given the wonderful blessed sacrament of confession, let us use that sacrament to keep our hearts and lives always clean before God. Sin is sin, no matter how much we try to dress it up and make it look pretty and disguise it so it looks like we did it with good intentions. No sin is acceptable before God, and all sin offends God. Read and listen to this amazing scripture.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ (Romans 6:1-14)

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Rom.6.1-Rom.6.14

“Jesus, I trust in You.”


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr. SFO

Today we pray the Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption
5. The Coronation